Detroit’s offensive line is suddenly the least of the Lions worries
The offensive line is always a sore spot for the Detroit Lions with their fans. In many years both distant past and recent vintage, it’s been a justified beef. The Lions have had some explosive skill position groups watered down by ineffective line play over the years.
Not this year. The Lions might be 0-2 and the offense sputtering, but don’t blame the guys up front. Through the first two weeks, the offensive line is the best part of the Detroit attack.
Left tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow, both former first-round picks, have played very well. Decker had a so-so Week 1 against the Chicago Bears but looked dominant against the Green Bay Packers in Week 2. His run blocking was as good as it’s ever looked and he didn’t have any breakdowns in pass protection. His 80.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus topped celebrated Packers counterpart David Bakhtiari, who had the advantage of going against Detroit’s feckless defense.
Ragnow was the only Lion to grade higher than Decker in Week 2, and the PFF score reflected the eye-test excellence from the third-year center. He is PFF’s No. 2-graded center on the year and deservingly so.
Rookie right guard Jonah Jackson has also performed well. The third-round pick from Ohio State looks like he belongs, and he has nicely paired with Ragnow to create some huge holes in the run game. It’s not their fault the running backs aren’t consistently hitting them or that the tight ends have been dreadful in the blocking department. For a point of reference, Jackson has a higher PFF grade than the man he’s replacing, Graham Glasgow, has racked up in the Denver Broncos’ two losses. And he’s doing it for almost a 90% lower salary than what Glasgow got to leave Detroit.
Even Tyrell Crosby has performed acceptably at right tackle despite the fact he’s not supposed to be playing. With Halapoulivaati Vaitai missing the first two weeks, Crosby the backup has stepped up nicely. He’s right at the league average in overall PFF grade but only four right tackles have a better run blocking score.
Alas, there is still one other spot. Left guard is a massive hole with regular starter Joe Dahl on injured reserve. Oday Aboushi shouldn’t ever see the field again after his inept performance in Week 2 that included a crushing personal foul penalty that helped key the Packers huge surge. Dahl looked fine in Week 1 and he could return as soon as Week 5, thankfully. With rookie Logan Stenberg also in the mix, the Lions might have the answer in-house already.
Matthew Stafford has been sacked five times in the two games, but that’s more on the QB than it is on the line. Stafford took an awful sack late against Chicago that was 100% on him for not throwing the ball away. That was true twice in Green Bay, too; Stafford is on the hook for three of his own five sacks for holding the ball too long or not escaping avoidable pressure.
Football Outsiders ranks the Lions offensive line second overall in pass protection through two weeks. They adjust for difficultly of schedule and competition, something PFF does not account for. Based on what we’ve seen through two weeks, it’s deserved praise for coach Hank Fraley in his first years as the man in charge of the O-line.
